Does exercise boost the brain?
Exercise doesn’t just strengthen muscles, it also gives your brain a boost.
It’s easy to think of exercise only in terms of physical health.
But in recent years scientists have found that moving our bodies also affects our brains; cognition, memory, mood, even risk of dementia.
Understanding this link can help us make better choices for lifelong mental sharpness.
Here are some of the key findings and principles that have emerged from research.
Key benefits
1. Improved cognition and memory
People who are physically active tend to perform better on tests of thinking, learning, attention, and memory.
2. Growth in brain structure
Regular aerobic heart-pumping exercise has been shown to increase the size of the hippocampus, a brain region critical for learning and memory. In one 12-month study, participants gained ~2% in hippocampal volume.
More broadly, exercise is linked to increased grey matter, white matter, and better connectivity in the brain.
3. Anti-ageing effects
Exercise appears to slow down brain ageing, reduce the risks of Alzheimer’s and cognitive decline, and guard against the harmful effects of sedentary lifestyles.
4. Mood, stress, sleep
A big part of how exercise helps the brain is through improving mood, reducing stress and anxiety, and enhancing sleep. All of these indirectly support cognitive health.
Even a single session of exercise can temporarily improve attention, executive function (such as decision-making, planning), and processing speed.
These “boosts” don’t last forever, but they show how responsive the brain is to movement.
Now the second key question:
What exercise is best for the brain?
Not all exercise is equal (for the brain), and researchers are still trying to pin down exact “doses.”
Here’s what current evidence suggests:
Aerobic is most proven.
Cardio, such as running, brisk walking, cycling, swimming, is the most studied and shows reliable benefits.
Intensity matters.
Moderate to vigorous intensity tends to give greater benefits than very light activity.
Consistency also matters.
Many beneficial studies run for at least 6 months, with individual sessions lasting 30–60 minutes at least three times per week.
Short bouts can help too.
Even 10–20 minutes of moderate activity can lead to transient cognitive improvements.
There's also emerging evidence that weight training and resistance exercises also support brain health.
The key takeaways
If you can, try to avoid total inactivity in any given 3 day period. Sedentary life is a risk factor for poorer brain outcomes.
So, a practical guideline might be: aim for 3–5 sessions a week of 30–60 minutes of moderate-to-vigorous activity, mixed with strength or resistance work if possible.
You can explore our references for this insight inside the Withy Labs app.
